HELENA, Mont. - The Carroll College Softball team took to their home field for the first time in 2026, working a split in the first of two doubleheaders slated against Dickinson State on Friday afternoon on a sunny Valley Bank Field at Nelson Stadium.

Kati Slater (Yamhill, Ore. / SR) provided the highlight of the day for the Fighting Saints (7-9, 2-4), lifting Carroll to a walk-off win in extras over the Blue Hawks (15-11, 3-3) in the first of Friday afternoon's pair.

GAME ONE: Carroll 5, Dickinson State 4 (8 Innings)

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After waiting more than a month for their first home of the season, the Saints made everyone wait just a little longer than normal for their first home win of the season. Seven innings wasn't enough to sort out a winner in the back-and-forth battle, but Carroll would eventually prevail in the first extra frame.

A leadoff double that nearly left the yard from Taylor Sayers (Helena, Mont. / SO), followed by a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt by Riley Simone (Cody, Wyo. / SO) set the stage for one of Carroll's three seniors in the bottom of the eighth. After taking a ball, Kati Slater sliced a liner over the shallow left fielder to give the Saints their first walk-off win since March 22 of last year (3-2 vs Corban).

The extra innings fireworks came on the heels of Dickinson State battling their way back to tie things up in the late innings. 

The Blue Hawks scored the game's first run in the top of the first, but Carroll took control starting in the second inning with a two-run blast from Carlee Smith (Blackfoot, Idaho / JR) to straight-away center. Smith's second homer of the season gave the Saints momentum, as they extended their lead to 3-1 on a Tayelynn Puyleart (Meridian, Idaho / FR) sac fly in the third.

Brooke Lijewski doubled to center in the top of the fourth inning, pulling the Blue Hawks within one. Two innings later, DSU's Vienna Meyers rolled a single up the middle to drive in a game-tying run, knotting things up at 3-3.

Carroll responded in the bottom half of the frame, as a pinch-hitting Ella Seaman (Belgrade, Mont. / SO) capped a 10-pitch at-bat with an RBI single up the middle to put the pressure back on the Blue Hawks.

Down to their final out, DSU got a huge break on a pair of wild pitches that would allow a runner to cross home and level things back up at 4-4. Carroll ace, Kennedy Venner (Billings, Mont. / SR) stopped the bleed there, however, punching out the final batter in the seventh, and holding the Blue Hawks scoreless in the eighth.

Venner was terrific all day long, allowing just three earned on seven total hits across eight innings of work. Her eight strikeouts were her second-most on the season.

Sayers led the Saints at the plate, going 3-4 and scoring the game's winning run. A trio of Saints recorded two hits in the win behind her, Brooke Thompson (2-3), Carlee Smith (2-4), and Kati Slater (2-4).

GAME TWO: Dickinson State 7, Carroll 4

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The Saints got off to a rough start in the evening matchup, and despite a big third inning, they'd never fully recover.

Dickinson State plated the first run of the game on a passed ball in the top half of the first, and then followed it up with a big second inning. Lijewski took a solo shot straight down the line in left field early in the frame, while Celina Wilharm added a three-run homer in nearly the exact same spot later in the inning to help give the Blue Hawks a 6-0 lead after two.

A Blue Hawk error helped spur a string of runs in the third inning, as all nine Saints saw the plate and Carroll battled right back into the fight. Slater tripled down the line in left, making good on Simone's leadoff single for Carroll's first run of the night. Brynn Notbohm (Miles City, Mont. / SO) pulled-off a rare safety squeeze for the Saints, dropping a perfect bunt to score Slater. Brooke Thompson ripped a stiff gorunder to short, and a throwing error moved three Carroll runners around the bags, scoring Notbohm. Carlee Smith capped the big inning with a sac-fly to left that pulled the Saints within two, at 6-4.

The Carroll bats would go cold starting in the fourth, as they were held hitless over the final four frames leading to a 7-4 loss.

Kathryn Emmert (Helena, Mont. / SO) was outstanding in relief for the Saints, going 5.1 innings with just one run allowed on four hits while striking out a season-high six batters.

The Saints and Blue Hawks will return to the turf tomorrow, settling the four-game series with a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m.